Voter Cheat Sheets Arizona Election 2012

2012-11-05 : No more dithering, time to stand up and be counted. Understanding Props 114 thru 204 (well, ok, there are only eleven of them) may seem confusing and time consuming, but at least a few of them are major power or money grabs, or are essential for funding struggling schools. So its worth it to figure them out one way or another.

President: Barack Obama. He was handed a huge mess and has done a competent job cleaning up, and has tackled big problems instead of passing the buck.

U.S. Senate: Richard Carmona He seems like a strong, not-excessively-partisan and honest guy who will really represent people in the Senate.

CD 1: Ann Kirkpatrick Paton is too knee-jerk for every gun bill, including reducing the penalty for illegally concealed weapons. Also Paton was an SB1070 supporter which included racial profiling, and he himself says "I've supported every anti-illegal immigration bill that has come before the Legislature". Ann Kirkpatrick is for 2nd amendment rights but seems much more balanced and focused on helping local economies and schools.

CD2: Ron Barber Gabby chose him. Nuff said.

CD3: Raul Grijalva Where to begin? Raul has stood up for the right side on unpopular and difficult issues. Not just standard progressive ones either - he stood up for Net Neutrality and no blood rubies from Burma, and voted for transparency on congressional earmarks. And we have direct experience of how helpful he is to constituents who need him, including those serving in the military and needing red tape cut.

Pima County Sheriff: Clarence Dupnik Dupnik has done an excellent job and speaks his mind without doubletalk. Keep him.

Board of Supervisors District 1: Nancy Young Wright
We'll go with the Star on this one

TUSD Governing Board:

Betts Putnam-Hidalgo Can't recommend Betts too strongly - she is the real deal, a parent, a volunteer, very deeply involved in the schools and committed to finding ways to keep neighborhood schools open.

Ralph A. Ellinwood seems to have budget priorities focused directly on educating students and seems willing to commit the resources needed to get the job done.

YES propositions:

118 - YES protects schools

119 - YES land exchange makes sense

204 - YES schools are hurting, and even though sales taxes hurt too, we need to fund our schools

409 - YES let cities issue bonds for roads

412 - YES school funding

121 - YES there are legitimate concerns with opening primaries, but our legislature is so broken almost any change has to be positive

NO propositions:

114 - NO - it sounds good on the surface not to let criminals sue victims, but we already have juries and existing protections for unreasonable lawsuits. It opens the door for police or prison guard brutality with no recourse by accusing the victim of committing a crime.

115 - NO - power grab by the governor

116 - NO - tax giveaway when we are hurting for revenue

117 - NO - property tax giveaway to wealthy property owners when we are hurting for revenue

120 - NO - do you trust our legislature to take care of Arizona's national parks?